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Rate of gun turret rotation

Discussion in 'The Tanks of World War 2' started by liang, Mar 12, 2006.

  1. liang

    liang New Member

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    It's said that it took only about 1 minute for the Sherman to traverse its gun turret 360 degree while it took twice as long for the Tiger to accomplish the same feat (electrically or manually). In close quarter fighting, that can be a major disadvantage for the Tiger. Anyone know how the other major tanks of WWII compare? Such as the T-34s, JS, Panzer 4 and 5, Pershings....
     
  2. FNG phpbb3

    FNG phpbb3 New Member

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    Turret rotation varied depending upon the revs of the tanks engines, so a lot of comparison doesn't really work

    FNG
     
  3. Gunter_Viezenz

    Gunter_Viezenz New Member

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    Since when was the Pershing a major tank of WWII?
     
  4. me262 phpbb3

    me262 phpbb3 New Member

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    it was not :angry:
     
  5. Christian Ankerstjerne

    Christian Ankerstjerne Member

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    Pz.Kpfw.IV: 22.5 seconds
    Pz.Kpfw.Panther: 19 seconds
    Pz.Kpfw.Tiger Ausf.E: 60 seconds
    Pz.Kpfw.Tiger Ausf.B: 19 seconds
     
  6. Roel

    Roel New Member

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    As far as I know, turret rotation time for the Sherman was 15 seconds rather than a whole minute, making it faster than most German tanks (see the previous post by Christian).
     
  7. FNG phpbb3

    FNG phpbb3 New Member

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    Are these times when stationary or the fastest they could do it?

    How many tanks rotational delay was affected by their revs?

    FNG
     
  8. Christian Ankerstjerne

    Christian Ankerstjerne Member

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    The Pz.Kpfw.Panther and Pz.Kpfw.Tiger (both) had a turret rotation relative to the main engine, the Pz.Kpfw.IV used the Auto Union, DKW-Motor, Typ ZW 500 engine.
     
  9. Tankdriver phpbb3

    Tankdriver phpbb3 New Member

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    The Pz 4 had 2 shafting in reducer for turret rotation in manually. The Pz 5 and 6 had hydromotor (about 4 h.p.), speed of rotation what was dependent of speed of rotation of tank engine. So that turret rotation manually (on the Pz 5), must to do about 900 rotation of handweel for turret rotation on 360. Even angle of inclination was 5-7 of degree, what turret was not rotation (manually). But most of all time for main turret rotation had the SMK - 12 minutes for 90 degree...
     
  10. Ricky

    Ricky Well-Known Member

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    Interesting that the Ausf.E had such a ridiculously long rotational time.
    Why was that?
     
  11. Christian Ankerstjerne

    Christian Ankerstjerne Member

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    I wouldn't call it rediculously long - no more than 30 seconds for general target aquisition isn't that much when you have range superiority.
     
  12. Ricky

    Ricky Well-Known Member

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    but compared to other tanks - and notably the Tiger Ausf B, it is around 3 times as slow.
     
  13. Christian Ankerstjerne

    Christian Ankerstjerne Member

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    Remember that the Tiger I was a fairly old design compared to the Panther and the Tiger II.
     
  14. liang

    liang New Member

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    Thanks for the info, 19 vs 60 seconds for the two Tiger variants, that's incredible. Guess that's why the Sherman and T-34 and drive rings around the Tiger and not get hit, that's if they can get that close.
     
  15. Christian Ankerstjerne

    Christian Ankerstjerne Member

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    It wouldn't make much sense for them to try to move around the Tiger.

    The maximum speed of the Medium Tank M4 (76 mm) is around 39 km./h., or 10.83 m./sec.

    The Tiger I can turn its turret a full circle in 60 seconds

    Therefore, the Medium Tank M4 (76 mm) must be within (10.83 * 60 / Pi / 2) = 103.45 m. of the Tiger I before it can outrun the turrets turn speed - however at this range, the Medium Tank M4 (76 mm) is able to penetrate the Tiger Is frontal armour.
     
  16. Ome_Joop

    Ome_Joop New Member

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    Problem is that can only drive that fast when it's on solid ground and then only at a streight line as turning a tank would require to slow down one of it's tracks....
     
  17. Christian Ankerstjerne

    Christian Ankerstjerne Member

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    Yes, but that only further proves my point.
     

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